Thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters are seen next to an Egyptian army tank as they take part in a demonstration at Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

(Newser)
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Egypt’s government has started dropping dark hints that the military will stop playing nice if protests continue much longer, the New York Times reports. In a televised interview today, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told protesters that “if chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step which would lead to a very dangerous situation.” Those comments came after Omar Suleiman warned of the possibility of “a coup” if protesters refused to negotiate.

“We can’t bear this for a long time,” Suleiman said. He said the regime wanted to resolve the crisis through dialogue—“We don’t want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools.” If dialogue fails, he said, “a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty steps.” Protesters took that badly. “He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the square will be smashed,” one protest leader told the Guardian. “But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptians who will follow us?”

The protestors have moved-beyond "protesting" and are now calling for the overthrow of the government. Any government faced with that is going to defend itself. Egyptians in the U.S. are also calling for the replacement of the Egyptian Government: http://www.flixya.com/blog/2799108/Egyptian-Events-

error404

Feb 10, 2011 9:24 AM CST

OK, my point may sound too contradictory now. But let's remember how it started and ended back in 1979? For example here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Iranian_Islamic_revolution It also started as democratic protests against Shah. Then after "beloved" Prez Carter abandoned his long-standing chronie, radicals quickly feeled the void. Cha-ching.

Morris Wise

Feb 10, 2011 8:59 AM CST

American taxpayers are billed three billion annually to update Egypt's military. The money could be better spent building a high speed railway from Cairo to Tehran, it could be called the Brotherhood Express. It would create millions of jobs and improve relations between Egypt's Grand Mufti and Iran`s Ayatollah.